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Suspending Britain’s 20-year-old inflation target could be justified in an economic crisis, a Bank of England rate-setter said today.

Monetary policy committee external member David Miles told the Standard that a switch to a growth target — mooted by the Bank’s incoming governor Mark Carney late last year as an extreme response to a crisis — could be justified as a “temporary measure in exceptional circumstances”.

Miles made clear that he supports the present regime, which gives the MPC leeway in how fast it brings inflation back to the 2% target to smooth the one-off impact of price shocks and avoid huge rises in unemployment. But his comments intensify the current debate over the future of the Bank’s monetary policy framework.

He said of the growth target: “As a temporary measure in exceptional circumstances there may be things to be said for it. I think I would need to be convinced that there were obvious advantages it gave you that you couldn’t have with what I would describe as our current regime of flexible inflation targeting.” He added that he was “open to the idea that [the growth target] could have advantages… I draw a distinction between it as a possible temporary place to be in an emergency versus ‘this is now the new permanent remit for the central bank’.”

Adopting a so-called nominal GDP level target would allow the Bank to make up previous shortfalls in growth with potentially huge additional stimulus, fuelling fears among many critics including pensioner groups over soaring inflation. Chancellor George Osborne is said to be edging away from potential changes to the inflation target. Outgoing Governor Sir Mervyn King called for a review of the regime last week although he maintains a 2% target is “essential”. Miles’s comments put him broadly in line with fellow MPC member Ian McCafferty, although the Bank’s chief economist Spencer Dale appeared more sceptical last month.

Experts believe Carney could introduce the Bank of Canada’s more explicit guidance on the path of interest rates when he arrives in Threadneedle Street.

But Miles believes such a move is unnecessary because of the Bank’s regular communication through monthly minutes, quarterly inflation reports and regular speeches, and allows less flexibility to deal with a changing economic situation. He said: “I think we are able in the current framework to give plenty of guidance about our thinking and how we see the economy evolving.

“I don’t think it would be helpful for the MPC to say here is where policy is going to be for the next several months. If we did that there wouldn’t be any point in having monthly meetings… Making an unconditional statement that policy will be held at this level, or that level, for many months is not likely to be the best way to run policy.”